Enhanced refresh in SIP network

• US 8,223,748 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2006
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bangalore, Manjunath, Kumarasamy, Parameswaran, Parameswaran, Kavithadevi
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz, Asad M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mullen, Justin N
• Application Number:
  US11/453,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20070294345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,225 Days
• Field of Search: 370/352, 709/204
• US Class Current: 370/352
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1104 Session initiation protocol [SIP]

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for refreshing a session. A session is refreshed using a refresh message that is enhanced for a refresh. For example, the refresh message does not include an SDP or any other message body. The message includes only a reduced header. This reduces time spent building and parsing the refresh message. Also, less bandwidth is used in sending the refresh messages.

Claims

1. A method for refreshing a session, the method comprising:

determining, by a first device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between the first device and a second device, whether a refresh method is supported by the second device by sending a negotiation message to the second device indicating that the refresh method is supported, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the first device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported;

receiving, at the first device, a response from the second device indicating whether the second device supports the refresh method;

based on the response from the second device indicating that the second device supports the refresh method, generating, using the first device, a first protocol message to initiate a refresh of the SIP session with the second device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session;

sending the first protocol message from the first device to the second device;

receiving, using the first device and in response to the first protocol message, a second protocol message from the second device, wherein the second protocol message comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message; and

determining, using the first device and based on the information included in the second protocol message, whether the SIP session is active or inactive.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the refresh message includes a reduced header that only includes mandatory fields as defined in SIP.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first protocol message and the second protocol message does not include a session description protocol (SDP).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second protocol message is a first type of message if the session is active and a second type of message if the session is inactive.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first type of message is a modified version of a SIP 200 OK message and the second type of message is a modified version of a SIP 481 Call/Transaction does not exist message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first protocol message includes a header comprising a message field, From field, TO field, call-ID field, and Cseq field, as defined in SIP.

7. A method for refreshing a session, the method comprising:

receiving, by a second device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between a first device and the second device, a negotiation message from the first device indicating that a refresh method is supported by the first device, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the first device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported;

sending, by a second device, a response message to the first device indicating whether the second device supports the refresh method;

receiving, using the second device, a first protocol message from the first device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session with the first device is requested;

determining, using the second device and based on receiving the first protocol message, the status of the SIP session with the first device, wherein the status of the SIP session indicates whether the SIP session is active or inactive;

generating, using the second device, a second protocol message, wherein the second protocol message comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message, the header of the second protocol message further indicating the status of the SIP session; and

sending the second protocol message from the second device to the first device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first protocol message and the second protocol message include a reduced header that only includes mandatory header fields as defined in SIP.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the second protocol message is a first type of message if the session is active and a second type of message if the session is inactive.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first type of message is a modified version of a SIP 200 OK message and the second type of message is a modified version of a SIP 481 Call/Transaction does not exist message.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of the first protocol message and the second protocol message does not include an SDP.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the first protocol message includes a header comprising a message field, From field, TO field, call-ID field, and Cseq field as defined in SIP.

13. A network device configured to refresh a session, the network device comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium; and

one or more instructions configured to be stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium for execution by the processor, the one or more instructions when executed by the processor are configured to;

determine, by the network device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between the network device and a second device, whether a refresh method is supported by the second device by sending a negotiation message to the second device indicating that the refresh method is supported, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the network device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported;

receive, at the network device, a response from the second device indicating whether the second device supports the refresh method;

based on the response from the second device indicating that the second device supports the refresh method, generate, by the network device, a first protocol message to initiate a refresh of the SIP session with the second device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session;

send the first protocol message to the second device;

receive, in response to the first protocol message, a second protocol message from the second device, wherein the second protocol message is comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message; and

determine, using the network device and based on the information included in the second protocol message, whether the SIP session is active or inactive.

14. The network device of claim 13, wherein the first protocol message includes a reduced header that only includes mandatory fields as defined in SIP.

15. The network device of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first protocol message and the second protocol message does not include an SDP.

16. The network device of claim 13, wherein the second protocol message is a first type of message if the session is active and a second type of message if the session is inactive.

17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the first type of message is a modified version of a SIP 200 OK message and the second type of message is a modified version of a SIP 481 Call/Transaction does not exist message.

18. The network device of claim 13, wherein the first protocol message includes a header comprising a message field, From field, TO field, call-ID field, and Cseq field as defined in SIP.

19. A network device configured to refresh a session, the network device comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium; and

one or more instructions to be stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium for execution by the processor, the one or more instructions when executed by the processor are configured to;

receive, by the network device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between a first device and the network device, a negotiation message from the first device indicating that a refresh method is supported by the first device, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the first device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported;

send, by the network device, a response message to the first device indicating whether the network device supports the refresh method;

receive, at the network device, a first protocol message from the first device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session with the first device is requested;

determine, by the network device and based on receiving the first protocol message, the status of the SIP session with the first device, wherein the status of the SIP session indicates whether the SIP session is active or inactive;

generate, by the network device, a second protocol message, wherein the second protocol message comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message, the header of the second protocol message further indicating the status of the SIP session; and

send the second protocol message to the first device.

20. The network device of claim 19, wherein the first protocol message and the second protocol message include a reduced header that only includes mandatory header fields as defined in SIP.

21. The network device of claim 19, wherein the second protocol message is a first type of message if the session is active and a second type of message if the session is inactive.

22. The network device of claim 21, wherein the first type of message is a modified version of a SIP 200 OK message and the second type of message is a modified version of a SIP 481 Call/Transaction does not exist message.

23. The network device of claim 19, wherein at least one of the first protocol message and the second protocol message does not include an SDP.

24. The network device of claim 19, wherein the first protocol message includes a header comprising a message field, From field, TO field, call-ID field, and Cseq field as defined in SIP.

25. An apparatus configured to refresh a session, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining, by a first device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between the first device and a second device, whether a refresh method is supported by the second device by sending a negotiation message to the second device indicating that the refresh method is supported, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the first device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported;

a first instruction module including instructions that are executable by a first processor and configured to cause the first processor to perform operations including receiving, at the first device, a response from the second device indicating whether the second device supports the refresh method;

based on the response from the second device indicating that the second device supports the refresh method, means for generating, using the first device, a first protocol message to initiate a refresh of the SIP session with the second device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session;

a second instruction module including instructions that are executable by a second processor and configured to cause the second processor to perform operations including;

sending the first protocol message from the first device to the second device; and

receiving, using the first device and in response to the first protocol message, a second protocol message from the second device, wherein the second protocol message comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message; and

means for determining, using the first device and based on the information included in the second protocol message, whether the SIP session is active or inactive.

26. An apparatus configured to refresh a session, the apparatus comprising:

a first instruction module including instructions that are executable by a first processor and configured to cause the first processor to perform operations including;

receiving, by a second device, during a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) session between a first device and the second device, a negotiation message from the first device indicating that a refresh method is supported by the first device, wherein a device that supports the refresh method is configured to determine whether a SIP session is active or inactive, and wherein the first device is configured to send a message with a body when the refresh method is not supported; and

sending, by a second device, a response message to the first device indicating whether the second device supports the refresh method;

means for receiving, using the second device, a first protocol message from the first device, wherein the first protocol message includes only a header configured with a refresh tag in a header field indicating that the first protocol message is a refresh message that is used to request a status of the SIP session with the first device is requested;

means for determining, using the second device and based on receiving the first protocol message, the status of the SIP session with the first device, wherein the status of the SIP session indicates whether the SIP session is active or inactive;

means for generating, using the second device, a second protocol message, wherein the second protocol message comprises a header and devoid of a body, the header of the second protocol message including the refresh tag and additional information indicating that the second protocol message is in response to the first protocol message, the header of the second protocol message further indicating the status of the SIP session; and

a second instruction module including instructions that are executable by a second processor and configured to cause the second processor to perform operations including sending the second protocol message from the second device to the first device.